THE United States continues to attract many immigrants today. The same pushes as before still exist in the world, and this country still has many pulls.

For example, in 1959 a Communist government took power in Cuba. Although some Cubans welcomed the change, many did not. As Fidel Castro instituted many new economic and political policies, hundreds of thousands fled the island.

Many wealthy Cubans fled as their businesses and property were taken over by the government. Poor Cubans fled because Castro’s economic policies failed to improve their lives.

Between 1959 and today, more than a quarter of a million Cubans immigrated to the United States. The push for them was the policies of the Cuban government; the pull was the combination of economic opportunity and political freedom.

The sudden arrival of so many Cubans led to some opposition, but Cubans have been mostly welcomed. Many of them settled in Florida, where they have established businesses and become an important part of the economic and political life of the state. Go online to find out what the government of Cuba is like today.

The prejudices against immigrants also continue to evolve today. The events of Sept. 11, 2001, led many Americans to think differently about people from other countries. Those terrorist acts caught Americans by surprise, and suspicion fell on the many foreigners in the country.

To some Americans, the world was suddenly full of people who looked different, spoke differently, thought differently, and wanted to harm the United States.

Some students from Middle Eastern and/or Muslim countries in American colleges, for example, had their presence in America questioned. There were and are movements in this country to reduce the number of foreign visitors, temporary workers, and students here out of fear that some of them could be terrorists bent on harming the country.

Some businesses owned by Arabs and Arab Americans faced boycotts. There also came pleas for a “national identity card” – a sort of driver’s license for everyone that would specify citizenship status.

Changes in immigration law have been suggested to stop people from certain countries from entering the United States or to create new checks on the people who are let in.

Not all Americans feel that way. Some, concerned about stereotyping of Arabs and other dark-skinned people, called for understanding and communication across ethnic and cultural differences. They argued that treating everyone in an ethnic or cultural group as if they were suspects of some sort was dangerous to the basic idea of the United States. We are a land of opportunity, they argued, and putting up these new barriers out of fear would be counter to the idea of America.

The echoes of that difference of opinion can be seen in some of the current debate around immigration policy. In the face of terrorism, the United States is again looking at how it allows people into this country. And the fact is that people are coming in droves. Each day, about 2,000 arrive legally. Five thousand arrive illegally but, of those, only about 1,000 get to stay.